Base member between a floor and wall

ABSTRACT

AN INVERTED BASE FOR USE AT THE JUNCTURE OF A WALL AND FLOOR SUCH THAT WHEN APPLIED IN POSITION AT THE BASE OF A WALL AND AT FLOOR LEVEL WILL BE WHOLLY LOCATED INWARDLY OF THE SURFACE OF THE WALL. THE INVERTED BASE IS FORMED OF A THIN, STIFF, YET SUFFICIENTLY FLEXIBLE SHEET METAL AND MAY BE OF ANY DESIRED RE-ENTRANT CONFIGURATION AND MAY ASSUME A NUMBER OF STRUCTURAL FORMS AS WHICH EACH IS THE SAME ALONG ITS BOTTOM EDGE PORTION BY BEING PROVIDED WITH A FORWARDLY EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL LIP HAVING A ROW OF DEPENDING SPACED APART TEETH. THE TEETH ARE FORMED IN THE MANNER OF SAW TEETH BEING TRIANGULAR IN SHAPE AND WITH BEVELED EDGES TO INSURE THEIR BEING EASILY DRIVEN INTO THE FLOOR. AT THE UPPER END OF ONE FORM OF INVERTED BASE THERE IS PROVIDED A U-SHAPED LIP HAVING LIKE TEETH FOR PENETRATION INTO THE LOWER EDGE OF A PANEL OR WALL BOARD, ANOTHER FORM HAVING THE UPPER EDGE PORTION OF THE INVERTED BASE TAPERED FOR INSERTION BETWEEN THE PANEL OR WALL BOARD AND THE WALL STUDS, A THIRD FORM HAVING THE UPPER EDGE PORTION OF THE INVERTED BASE BENT OVER TO RESILIENTLY ENGAGE THE INSIDE SURFACE OF THE PANEL OR WALL BOARD, AND A FOURTH FORM HAVING A SLOTTED UPPER END PORTION ADAPTED TO UNDERLIE THE LOWER EDGE OF A PANEL OR WALL BOARD TO RECEIVE AN L-SHAPED STRIP HAVING TEETH OF A SIZE FOR PENETRATION INTO A PANEL OF HARDER MATERIAL OR PANEL THAT IS THIN. IN EACH OF THE ABOVE FORMS OF INVERTED BASE THERE IS PROVIDED A RECESS AT THE BASE OF THE WALL THAT EXTENDS INWARDLY OF THE WALL SURFACE AND THE LOWER EDGE OF THE PANEL OR WALL BOARD IS VERTICALLY SPACED A DISTANCE ABOVE THE FLOOR LEVEL. TO PREVENT HAZARDOUS CONTACT WITH THE TEETH OF THE INVERTED BASE THERE IS PROVIDD A WRAPPER OR COVER IN STRIPFORM TO ENCASE THE TEETH DURING HANDLING OF THE INVERTED BASE IN TRANSPORT OR IN STORAGE AND PRIOR TO THE INSTALLATION THEREOF.

197v1 E. WltLFURTH BASE MEMBER BETWEEN A FLOOR AND WALL Filed Dec. 2'7, 1968 N Z H M 2 M mp E LK 0 wm %N 4 z a w 2 g 5 United States Patent 3,564,797 BASE MEMBER BETWEEN A FLOOR AND WALL Erich Willfurth, 31 W. Chestnut St., Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735 Filed Dec. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 787,500 Int. Cl. E04f 11/04 US. Cl. 52-287 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An inverted base for use at the juncture of a wall and floor such that when applied in position at the base of a wall and at fioor level will be wholly located inwardly of the surface of the wall. The inverted base is formed of a thin, stiff, yet sufficiently flexible sheet metal and may be of any desired re-entrant configuration and may assume a number of structural forms as which each is the same along its bottom edge portion by being provided with a forwardly extending substantially horizontal lip having a row of depending spaced apart teeth. The teeth are formed in the manner of saw teeth being triangular in shape and with beveled edges to insure their being easily driven into the floor. At the upper end of one form of inverted base there is provided a U-shaped lip having like teeth for penetration into the lower edge of a panel or wall board; another form having the upper edge portion of the inverted base tapered for insertion between the panel or wall board and the wall studs; a third form having the upper edge portion of the inverted base bent over to resiliently engage the inside surface of the panel or wall board; and a fourth form having a slotted upper end portion adapted to underlie the lower edge of a panel or wall board to receive an L-shaped strip having teeth of a size for penetration into a panel of harder material or panel that is thin.

In each of the above forms of inverted base there is provided a recess at the base of the wall that extends inwardly of the wall surface and the lower edge of the panel or wall board is vertically spaced a distance above the floor level.

To prevent hazardous contact with the teeth of the inverted base there is provided a wrapper or cover in strip form to encase the teeth during handling of the inverted base in transport or in storage and prior to the installation thereof.

This invention relates to a sheet metal and/or sheet a plastic inverted base and is an improvement over my copending application Ser. No. 710,426, filed Feb. 12, 1968.

The primary object of this invention is to provide in building construction in lieu of the conventional use of wood base board strips assembled and attached to the base of a wall and adjacent floor and which projects outwardly from the surface of the wall, an inverted base of' re-entrant form that is positioned within a space provided therefor at the base of the wall so as to lie wholly inwardly of the wall surface, the wall thereby having a dust-fall edge that is spaced vertically from the fioor.

Another object of this invention is to form the reentrant inverted base of a thin, rigid but flexible material provided along its upper and lower edge portions with lip portions that are right angular and provided with a projecting row of spaced triangularly shaped teeth, that of the upper row being adapted for being driven into the lower terminal edge of the panel or wall board vertically spaced from the floor and that of the lower row being adapted for being driven into the floor along a line inwardly of the panel or baseboard wall.

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Still another object of the invention is to form the projecting teeth at right angles to the lip portions and triangular in shape with the edges of the teeth beveled in the manner of the teeth of a saw and the teeth of a length from base to apex at least one and one-half as long as the base is wide.

Another object of this invention is to provide an inverted base with a lower forwardly projecting lip portion with right angular positioned depending teeth, the body of the inverted base being flat and its upper edge portion tapered so as to be adapted to be driven upwardly between the wall panel or wall board and the studding to which it is attached.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an inverted base have a like lip and teeth structure at its lower edge portion with the upper end portion forwardly and downwardly bent as to be of inverted U-shaped in cross-section with the forward downwardly bent edge portion adapted to engage the lower inside edge surface of the panel or wall board.

A further object of the invention is to provide an inverted base have a like lip and tooth construction along its lower edge portion and its upper end portion being bent into inverted U-shaped cross-section with a forwardly extending longitudinally slotted lip arranged to seat on the lower terminal edge of the panel or wall board to receive and retain the horizontal leg of an L-shaped strip the vertical leg of which is provided with a row of spaced triangular teeth of a size and length as to permit the same to be driven into a panel or wall board that is either of a harder material or thinner than the customary panel or Wall board hardness and/or thickness, this constructional form of inverted base thus permitting the use of a variety of selected L-shaped toothed strips suitable for use as indicated by the form and type of panel or wall board employed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a paper product cover or jacket for the teeth of the inverted base so as to reduce the hazard of cutting the hands or damage to objects, etc., while handling the inverted base in transit or in storage or preliminary to installation of the same.

A still further object of this invention is to utilize the inverted base in all of the locations and for all of the purposes as set forth in my prior filed co-pending application.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view partly in cross-section showing the application of one form of inverted base.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view partly in cross-section Isahovving the application of a modified form of inverted ase.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view partly in cross-section showing the application of another modified form of inverted base.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view partly in cross se-ction showing the application of an inverted base provided with interchangeable upper L-shaped lip elements for selected use with the upper portion of the inverted base.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view of the L-shaped lip and its manner of attachment both to the upper portion of the inverted base and to the panel or wall'board.

FIG. 6 is a detail elevational view of a portion of the row of spaced teeth on the lip of the inverted base.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of one of the teeth shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7a is a cross-sectional view of a tooth showing the structure thereof taken on line 7a-7a of FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 shows the application of a paper jacket to the row of teeth.

FIG. 9 shows in end elevation the use of one form of corrugated paper jacket to a row of teeth.

FIG. 10 shows in end elevation another form of corrugated paper jacket.

Referring in detali to the drawings. The re-entrant inverted base 10, FIG. 1 is formed of any suitable sheet metal or plastic material of relatively thin thickness that is stiff and flexible and in strips or lengths found desirable for sale, storage and handling. The inverted base 10 is preformed of any desired re-entrant cross-sectional shape, as shown by the forms shown for example, in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The inverted base 10, FIG. 1, is seen to be arcuate in form and is provided at its lower end with a forwardly extending substantially horizontal lip 12 having at its terminal edge a depending row of spaced teeth 14 disposed at right angles to the lip 12. The width of the lip 12 is substantially less than the thickness of the panel or wall board 24. The upper end edge portion of the inverted base 10 is reversely or downwardly bent as at 16 and extends horizontally forwardly to form an integral lip 18 provided at its terminal edge with a like upstanding row of spaced teeth 20. The inverted base 10 is in effect a base board that is entirely located rearwardly of the wall surface. To accommodate the inverted base 10 there is provided a space 22. This space 22 is defined by a panel or wall board 24 that constitutes the wall shown mounted on wall studs (only one being shown) 25, the lower terminal horizontal edge 26 of the panel or wall board 24 being spaced a predetermined distance above the floor surface 27 of the flooring 28. The studs 25 are cut-out as at 29 to provide the space 22 thereat, and may be reinforced by a metal plate and bolts in the manner shown and described in my co-pending application, see FIG. 3 therein, as above identified. The inverted base 10 is secured in place by driving the row of teeth on the upper lip 18 upwardly into the free lower terminal edge 26 of the panel or wall board 24 in a manner such that bent down portion 16 will engage the inside surface of the panel or wall board 24, as clearly shown in FIG. 1. The lower lip 12 is located inwardly of the upper lip 18 and has its row of teeth 14 driven into the flooring 28. It is to be noted that the lower edge 26 of the panel or wall board 24 provides a dust-fall edge that is spaced vertically from the floor surface 27. This construction is thus seen to reduce or prevent the accummulation of dust, is more sanitary and permits a complete cleaning operation of the floor.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 7a it is seen that the teeth 14 are equilateral triangular in shape and individually spaced from each other a distance that is slightly shorter than the width of a tooth 14 at its base. This spacing is necessary and desirable in order to facilitate penetration of the teeth 14 into the flooring 28 and will also prevent splitting thereof as were the teeth closely adjacent to each other. The teeth 14 are each of the same dimensions and preferably of a length from base to apex one and one-half that of the width of the base. Also the side edges 30, 31 of the teeth 14 are beveled in the manner of saw teeth, in other words the side edges 30, 31 are not normal to the plane of the teeth but are inclined thereto as shown in the detail sectional view of FIGS. 7 and 7a. It is to be understood that the teeth 14 of FIG. 1, as well as the teeth in the other modified forms may be of any desired size, and that the teeth 14 shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 7a and 8 are shown in a greatly enlarged scale for purposes of illustration only.

In the form of inverted base 34 shown in FIG. 2, the

same is formed of a like sheet metal or plastic material as 10 of FIG. 1 and is substantially flat. At its lower edge the inverted base 34 is provided with a lip 12a and a depending row of spaced teeth 14a corresponding respectively with the lip 12 and teeth 14 of the inverted base 10 of FIG. 1. The upper edge portion 36 of the inverted base 30 is tapered to an edge. In this constructional form the inward space 22a corresponds to the thickness of the panel or wall board 24 which as in FIG. 1 has its lower terminal edge 26 spaced vertically from the floor surface 27. The inverted base 34 abuts the studs 25 and has its upper end portion inserted between the panel or wall board 24 and the studs by being forced upwardly there between. The lower lip 12a is seated on the floor surface immediately adjacent studs 25 with its teeth 14a driven into flooring 28, the entire inverted base 34 being thus seen to be secured and position rearwardly of the outer wall surface.

In the modification of inverted base shown in FIG. 3, the inverted base 38, the same is formed of the same sheet material as 10 of FIG. 1 and is formed arcuate with a lower lip 12b and depending teeth 14b identical with lip 12 and teeth 14, respectively of inverted base 10, FIG. 1. The upper end portion of the inverted base 38 is bent forwardly as at 39. The studs 25a are cut out as at 40 to conform generally to the concave curvature of the inverter base 38 and extends upwardly beyond the terminal edge 26 of the panel or wall board 24 to provide a space 42. In placing and attaching the inverted base 38 the upper end portion is inserted into space 42, and due to the flexibility of the inverted base 38 which is preferably given an arcuate form of greater concavity than cut-out 40, with the lip 12a positioned adjacent the stud 25a and the teeth 14b driven into the flooring the upper end portion will be tensioned such that bent over end portion 39 will more or less resiliently press against the inside surface of the panel or wall board 24 in the manner shown, see FIG. 3.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a further modified form of inverted base having a detachable and interchangeable upper lip and tooth structure for use in situations where the panel or wall board is either of a greater degree of hardness than that customarily employed or where the same is thinner or of less thickness than that customarily used in building construction.

In this constructional form, the inverted base 46 is formed of the same material as 10 of FIG. 1 and is shaped arcuate such as 38 of FIG. 3 with a lower lip 12c and depending teeth 140. The stud 25b is cut-out as at 4-8 in a manner corresponding to 40 of FIG. 3 with a space that extends upwardly beyond terminal edge 26 of the panel or wall board 24a and behind the same, such as 42 of FIG. 3. The upper end portion of inverted base 46 is bent forwardly as at 52 and is provided with a forwardly extending integral lip 54, the end portion 52 extending into space 50 and abutting the inside surface of the panel or wall board in the same manner as 39 of FIG. 3, the lower lip 12c and teeth 140 being located and attached also in the same manner, respectively, as 12b and 14b of FIG. 3. Upper lip 54 is provided with an upper flat arm 55 adapted to abut the lower terminal edge 26 of the panel or wall board 24, and a lower arcuate arm 56 that is slightly yieldable or resiliently movable and providing a gap 58 therebetween. The panel or wall board 24a may be of a high degree of hardness or may be thinner than the panel or wall board 24 as customarily employed. This feature requires the teeth on the upper lip of the inverted base 46 to be either of greater strength or rigidity or smaller in length than teeth 20. Accordingly there is provided an additional strip 60 L-shaped incross-section having a horizontal leg 61 terminating in a rounded bead 62 and a vertical leg 64 having a row of horizontal teeth 66 parallel to leg 61 and of either a predetermined hardness or length, or both. The teeth 66 are spaced and formed similar to teeth 14. The inverted base 46 is first placed in position as to its lower lip 12c and teeth 14c and with the flat leg 55 of the upper lip seated against terminal edge 26 of the panel or wall board 2411. The auxiliary lip 60 is then first fixed in position and connected to the panel or wall board by inserting horizontal leg 61 into gap 58, the rounded bead 62 slightly forcing lower arm 56 down so as to pressure grip the horizontal leg 61 in the manner readily apparent. At the same time vertical leg 64 is brought into contact with the lower edge portion of the panel or wall board 24a, the teeth 66 being driven thereinto. When thus locked together and with the flat leg 55 of the bifurcated lip 54 abutting panel or wall board edge 26, lower lip 120 is then placed in its final position by driving the teeth 14c into flooring 28. This interconnection of selected auxiliary toothed upper strip 60 with the bifurcated lip 54 of the inverted base 46 will securely hold the latter in fixed relationship in space 48 and to the wall.

FIG. illustrates the application of the auxiliary toothed strip 60 to a panel or wall board 24b wherein the lower edge portion is shaped to be of reduced thickness requiring the teeth 66 to be of a less length.

In order to both protect the sharp teeth 14, 20 and 66 against damage as well as to obviate the danger of the same injuring the hands or bodies of the persons handling the same while in transport, storage or in the installation thereof there is provided a guard for the teeth formed as a paper envelope or of a preformed shape utilizing a corrugated cardboard either taking a variety of forms which may be held in place on the inverted base or auxiliary strip by a removable adhesive tape (not shown) or in any other suitable manner. FIGS. 8, 9 and show such a guard for the teeth 14. FIG. 8 shows a paper cover or wrapper 70 for the teeth '14 FIG. 9, shows a preformed corrugated paper guard 72 showing the same encasing the teeth 14 (shown in crosssection). FIG. 10 shows a modified form of preformed corrugated paper guard 74.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the construction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In combination with a floor and an upright wall comprising a wall panel mounted on wall studs wherein said wall panel has its lower horizontal edge vertically spaced from the floor to form a horizontal recess:

(a) an inverted base positioned within said recess formed as an elongated strip of thin, self-sustaining, flexible material,

(b) an integral forwardly extending lower horizontal lip at the lower end of said inverted base engaging said floor,

(c) said lower lip being of a width substantially less than the thickness of said wall panel,

(d) a row of integral longitudinally spaced lower teeth depending at right angles from the outer free edge of said lower lip penetrating into said floor to secure said lower horizontal lip thereto,

(e) a forwardly bent over end portion extending along the upper end of said inverted base,

(f) said bent over end portion being substantially flat and engaging the lower inner surface of said wall panel,

(g) a forwardly directed upper horizontal lip at the lower end of said bent over portion seating on the lower horizontal edge of said wall panel and of a width less than the thickness of said wall panel, and

(h) a row of integral longitudinally spaced vertical upper teeth extending upwardly from the outer free edge of said upper lip penetrating into the lower horizontal edge of said wall panel,

whereby said teeth on the lower and upper horizontal lips will permanently secure the lower and upper portions of the inverted base within said recess in relation to said floor and wall panel, and the wall panel providing a dust-fall edge that is spaced vertically from the floor.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein:

(a) each tooth in said lower and upper rows extending vertically from its associated lower and upper lips, respectively, is of equal triangular formation with its base located at the lip edge, and

(b) the side edges of said triangular teeth being each beveled and inclined in the same direction such that a transverse cross-section of a tooth is of parallelogram formation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner 

